Recipe and Tips for November

With the shorter days and colder weather, at this time of year I'm thinking of roast dinner on a Sunday...…….a lovely bird with roast potatoes, parsnips, steamed greens, gravy and have you ever tried a roast onion? My Gran used to do them for us and ever since then I've always included them in my own roasts. They provide lovely sweet notes of flavour and you can add them into your gravy if you want to.

As it is now mid-November with Christmas decorations and festive food appearing on menus and in stores, we are also thinking of the expense at this time of year. And in terms of food, some are considering how to save some money, making everything go as far as you can (we should always be thinking of this of course).

Personally after a roast I use the carcass and bones to make a stock for another day. Any leftover chicken I use in a risotto. My top tip for leftover chicken is this; l leave it on the bone to keep it moist, then you want to use it take away from the carcass and put the bones into a pan - add some onion, carrot and a few herbs then water - bring to the boil then simmer and reduce by approximately half - this should give you a good tasting stock to add to a risotto rice dish. Alternatively you can keep it for another gravy. If you use all the meat in one sitting and don't need a stock - just remove the bones and break up the carcass and pop into a freezer bag for when you do.

When being thrifty with food cheaper cuts of meat are often talked about and the general rule of thumb is they either need a flash fry or long slow cooking. I love long and slow myself.

Here is the classic Beef en Daube - "proper" slow preparation and slow cooking but the results are fantastic as long as you are a patient cook! And you can always enjoy with a glass of red Burgundy or Beaujolais.

·      salt, to taste

·      2 large onions, finely chopped

·      4 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks

·      2 sticks celery, sliced

·      6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

·      1 bottle red wine

·      100ml brandy or cognac

·      50ml red wine vinegar

For the bouquet garnis

·      4 bay leaves

·      2 large sprigs thyme

·      a few sprigs of parsley

·      2 pieces pared orange zest

·      4 cloves

·      1 tsp black peppercorns

·      2 cinnamon sticks

For the casserole

·      4 tbsp olive oil

·      150g bacon lardons

·      1 onion, finely chopped

·      2 tbsp tomato purée

·      600ml beef stock

·      150g black olives

Put the beef into a large fridge-friendly container. Sprinkle with salt and add all the marinade ingredients.

Divide the ingredients for the bouquet garnis in half and tie into two separate parcels of muslin. Add one of these to the marinade and set the other one aside. Cover and put in the fridge. Leave overnight.

For the casserole, drain the meat, reserving the liquid and the rest of the marinade ingredients. Pat the meat dry and brush off any garlic.

Heat half of the olive oil in a large frying pan and fry the meat in batches until well browned. Deglaze the base of the frying pan with a little of the marinade liquid and set aside.

In a large casserole, add the remaining olive oil. Add the bacon and fry on a high heat for a few minutes until crisp and brown. Add the onion and reduce the heat to medium. Fry for around 10 minutes, or until the onion has softened and lightly coloured. Stir in the tomato purée. Add the beef to the casserole and stir to coat.

Strain the marinade and pour over the liquid along with the deglazing liquid from the frying pan and the second bouquet garnis.

Bring to the boil and simmer until the volume of liquid has reduced by around a third.

Add enough beef stock so that the beef is just covered. Return to the boil, then turn down the heat to low. Cover, and simmer for around three hours.

If you are able to, leave overnight – cool and leave in the fridge to chill. Once chilled, it will make skimming off any fat much easier. Otherwise, just skim off some of the fat, which will collect at the top.

Add the olives, then simmer uncovered for a further hour to reduce down the sauce. Serve with rice.

Enjoy!